Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Joe Triscaro does not like the ResponsibleOhio marijuana-legalization amendment, but he will vote for it on Nov. 3.
Dr. Anup D. Patel, a pediatric neurologist and director of the Complex Epilepsy Clinic at Nationwide Children's Hospital, says Issue 3 is not the way to make medical marijuana legal.
Marijuana as medicine is a controversial and emotional topic. Although most medical experts say there is no incontrovertible scientific evidence supporting marijuana for medical purposes, numerous studies, reports and thousands of anecdotal cases seem to indicate otherwise.
Marijuana products, such as extracted oils, help ease pain, control seizures and reduce spasticity in some cases. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved marijuana as medicine, but that could change as soon as next year.
Triscaro's love for Paula, his once-vivacious and -active bride of 30 years, guides his heart and vote.
Mrs. Triscaro, who suffered brain damage after a heart attack in 2009, is nonverbal and uses a wheelchair. The Chagrin Falls businessman said his research and information he has received from the Cleveland Clinic, where his wife receives treatment, shows that medical marijuana can be effective in reducing spasticity, the stiffness and muscle spasms his wife constantly suffers.
"I'm just looking for medicine for my wife," Triscaro said. "I want her to smile. I want her to laugh. I want her to know she's loved.
"Why would you deny us that chance?"
Triscaro is not alone in his plea for medical marijuana. Elderly loved ones with terminal cancer, parents of children suffering hundreds of epileptic seizures a week, spouses with multiple sclerosis – these and others seeking help for family members are turning to medical marijuana for answers.
Patel has 50 pediatric patients participating in an international clinical trial of Epidiolex, a drug with a marijuana component manufactured by GW Pharmaceuticals, a British company. The study, which is being overseen by the FDA, is closed, so no new patients can be added.
Patel said that if the trials go well, the new drug could be approved for limited use as soon as next year, but more research is needed.
"I understand parents' desperation, and I know that a lot of treatments have failed," he said. But medical marijuana, as promised by state Issue 3, is "not fully studied and regulated. People won't know what they're getting.
"Please do not vote yes on Issue 3 because you think it will help children of epilepsy and other neurological disorders get help they need," Patel said. "Give us time. Let us show with these trials that this is safe."
The ResponsibleOhio constitutional amendment that Ohio voters will decide next month is a twofer, including both medical use by people with qualifying health conditions and recreational marijuana for those 21 or older. But one use cannot be approved without the other.
Marijuana would be grown at 10 predetermined sites across the state, with the Franklin and Stark county locations at least partially dedicated to cultivating specialty pot for medical uses. It would permit "patients with debilitating medical conditions to acquire, administer, purchase, possess, transport, and use" medical marijuana if they have certification from a physician. Patients younger than 18 could be prescribed marijuana by a physician with the consent of a custodial parent or guardian.
The amendment would allow establishment of "not-for-profit medical marijuana dispensaries" to provide medication for Ohioans who meet income and medical qualifications.
Jennifer Keener, a Dublin mother of four, favors Issue 3 solely because of medical marijuana. She wants it for her son, Alex, 7, who was born with a mass in his brain that required seven delicate surgeries. He still has four or more seizures per day and struggles with an agonizing array of side effects.
"We've been in and out of the hospital. We've seen alternative doctors. We tried diets, gluten free, dairy free," Keener said. "Every seizure he has rocks our whole."
Keener believes the stress of Alex's health problems contributed to the fatal heart attack her husband, Greg, suffered in February last year.
"He was Alex's biggest cheerleader," Keener said. "He was an engineer, but he couldn't fix our son."
Before Greg's death, the Keeners were planning to move out of state, probably to Michigan, where medical marijuana is legal. That isn't in the cards now, with Kenner caring for Alex and his sisters, Ava, 10, and twins Lyla and Lanie, 5.
"Shame on Ohio that we can't look to a plant for options," Keener said. "I'm going to vote for Issue 3."
None of Ohio's five statewide-elected, non-judicial officeholders – all Republicans – favors Issue 3, because they don't want recreational use of marijuana or the addition of a monopoly in the state Constitution. But three of them told The Dispatch that they would support the General Assembly holding hearings on medical marijuana next year, if the pot-legalization amendment is defeated.
"We've got to find a way to move the ball forward (on medical marijuana)," Auditor Dave Yost said. "But ResponsibleOhio is not the way. It will increase suffering. I'm not willing to trade one bad set of tragic circumstances for another."
Attorney General Mike DeWine had his staff research medical marijuana this year. While he didn't find anything that persuaded him to give it his full-throated support, DeWine said he is "not ready to say no."
"I don't blame the parents that want this for their kids," he said. "If that was my child, I would do what it takes to relieve their suffering. I don't have enough information to say I would be for it."
DeWine, like Yost and Secretary of State Jon Husted, said he thinks the legislature should hold hearings on medical marijuana, bring in medical experts, and see what the next step should be.
Spokesman Joe Andrews said Gov. John Kasich "is sensitive to the plight of those who have debilitating diseases, but feels the need to let medical professionals lead on this issue."
The national Epilepsy Foundation "supports the rights of patients and families living with seizures and epilepsy to access physician-directed care, including medical marijuana.. ... If a patient and their health-care professionals feel that the potential benefits of medical marijuana for uncontrolled epilepsy outweigh the risks, then families need to have that legal option now – not in five years or 10 years."
Robin Yost – no relation to the auditor – doesn't want to wait that long, but she also doesn't support Responsible-Ohio's plan.
Robin and her husband, Jim, who live in Warren, had no family history of epilepsy when their daughter Ellie was diagnosed at 18 months old with a form that's not responsive to known drug treatments. Mrs. Yost said it was horrible, as a parent, to watch helplessly as her child, now 19, would have hundreds of seizures, large and small, each day.
"It's very frustrating," she said. "You want to fix things for your children. This is something I can't fix. She can't drive. She can't spend a night at someone's house. Sometimes she has one seizure after another."
Like other families, the Yosts looked into marijuana extracts to calm or eliminate Ellie's seizures.
But Yost said she won't move to Colorado, where marijuana is legal, at least not right away. And she won't vote for ResponsibleOhio.
"I'm not convinced it's the ticket," she said. "I don't think I will vote for it."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Ohio: Medical Marijuana A Tough Call
Author: Alan Johnson
Photo Credit: Mike Lang
Website: The Columbus Dispatch
Dr. Anup D. Patel, a pediatric neurologist and director of the Complex Epilepsy Clinic at Nationwide Children's Hospital, says Issue 3 is not the way to make medical marijuana legal.
Marijuana as medicine is a controversial and emotional topic. Although most medical experts say there is no incontrovertible scientific evidence supporting marijuana for medical purposes, numerous studies, reports and thousands of anecdotal cases seem to indicate otherwise.
Marijuana products, such as extracted oils, help ease pain, control seizures and reduce spasticity in some cases. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved marijuana as medicine, but that could change as soon as next year.
Triscaro's love for Paula, his once-vivacious and -active bride of 30 years, guides his heart and vote.
Mrs. Triscaro, who suffered brain damage after a heart attack in 2009, is nonverbal and uses a wheelchair. The Chagrin Falls businessman said his research and information he has received from the Cleveland Clinic, where his wife receives treatment, shows that medical marijuana can be effective in reducing spasticity, the stiffness and muscle spasms his wife constantly suffers.
"I'm just looking for medicine for my wife," Triscaro said. "I want her to smile. I want her to laugh. I want her to know she's loved.
"Why would you deny us that chance?"
Triscaro is not alone in his plea for medical marijuana. Elderly loved ones with terminal cancer, parents of children suffering hundreds of epileptic seizures a week, spouses with multiple sclerosis – these and others seeking help for family members are turning to medical marijuana for answers.
Patel has 50 pediatric patients participating in an international clinical trial of Epidiolex, a drug with a marijuana component manufactured by GW Pharmaceuticals, a British company. The study, which is being overseen by the FDA, is closed, so no new patients can be added.
Patel said that if the trials go well, the new drug could be approved for limited use as soon as next year, but more research is needed.
"I understand parents' desperation, and I know that a lot of treatments have failed," he said. But medical marijuana, as promised by state Issue 3, is "not fully studied and regulated. People won't know what they're getting.
"Please do not vote yes on Issue 3 because you think it will help children of epilepsy and other neurological disorders get help they need," Patel said. "Give us time. Let us show with these trials that this is safe."
The ResponsibleOhio constitutional amendment that Ohio voters will decide next month is a twofer, including both medical use by people with qualifying health conditions and recreational marijuana for those 21 or older. But one use cannot be approved without the other.
Marijuana would be grown at 10 predetermined sites across the state, with the Franklin and Stark county locations at least partially dedicated to cultivating specialty pot for medical uses. It would permit "patients with debilitating medical conditions to acquire, administer, purchase, possess, transport, and use" medical marijuana if they have certification from a physician. Patients younger than 18 could be prescribed marijuana by a physician with the consent of a custodial parent or guardian.
The amendment would allow establishment of "not-for-profit medical marijuana dispensaries" to provide medication for Ohioans who meet income and medical qualifications.
Jennifer Keener, a Dublin mother of four, favors Issue 3 solely because of medical marijuana. She wants it for her son, Alex, 7, who was born with a mass in his brain that required seven delicate surgeries. He still has four or more seizures per day and struggles with an agonizing array of side effects.
"We've been in and out of the hospital. We've seen alternative doctors. We tried diets, gluten free, dairy free," Keener said. "Every seizure he has rocks our whole."
Keener believes the stress of Alex's health problems contributed to the fatal heart attack her husband, Greg, suffered in February last year.
"He was Alex's biggest cheerleader," Keener said. "He was an engineer, but he couldn't fix our son."
Before Greg's death, the Keeners were planning to move out of state, probably to Michigan, where medical marijuana is legal. That isn't in the cards now, with Kenner caring for Alex and his sisters, Ava, 10, and twins Lyla and Lanie, 5.
"Shame on Ohio that we can't look to a plant for options," Keener said. "I'm going to vote for Issue 3."
None of Ohio's five statewide-elected, non-judicial officeholders – all Republicans – favors Issue 3, because they don't want recreational use of marijuana or the addition of a monopoly in the state Constitution. But three of them told The Dispatch that they would support the General Assembly holding hearings on medical marijuana next year, if the pot-legalization amendment is defeated.
"We've got to find a way to move the ball forward (on medical marijuana)," Auditor Dave Yost said. "But ResponsibleOhio is not the way. It will increase suffering. I'm not willing to trade one bad set of tragic circumstances for another."
Attorney General Mike DeWine had his staff research medical marijuana this year. While he didn't find anything that persuaded him to give it his full-throated support, DeWine said he is "not ready to say no."
"I don't blame the parents that want this for their kids," he said. "If that was my child, I would do what it takes to relieve their suffering. I don't have enough information to say I would be for it."
DeWine, like Yost and Secretary of State Jon Husted, said he thinks the legislature should hold hearings on medical marijuana, bring in medical experts, and see what the next step should be.
Spokesman Joe Andrews said Gov. John Kasich "is sensitive to the plight of those who have debilitating diseases, but feels the need to let medical professionals lead on this issue."
The national Epilepsy Foundation "supports the rights of patients and families living with seizures and epilepsy to access physician-directed care, including medical marijuana.. ... If a patient and their health-care professionals feel that the potential benefits of medical marijuana for uncontrolled epilepsy outweigh the risks, then families need to have that legal option now – not in five years or 10 years."
Robin Yost – no relation to the auditor – doesn't want to wait that long, but she also doesn't support Responsible-Ohio's plan.
Robin and her husband, Jim, who live in Warren, had no family history of epilepsy when their daughter Ellie was diagnosed at 18 months old with a form that's not responsive to known drug treatments. Mrs. Yost said it was horrible, as a parent, to watch helplessly as her child, now 19, would have hundreds of seizures, large and small, each day.
"It's very frustrating," she said. "You want to fix things for your children. This is something I can't fix. She can't drive. She can't spend a night at someone's house. Sometimes she has one seizure after another."
Like other families, the Yosts looked into marijuana extracts to calm or eliminate Ellie's seizures.
But Yost said she won't move to Colorado, where marijuana is legal, at least not right away. And she won't vote for ResponsibleOhio.
"I'm not convinced it's the ticket," she said. "I don't think I will vote for it."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Ohio: Medical Marijuana A Tough Call
Author: Alan Johnson
Photo Credit: Mike Lang
Website: The Columbus Dispatch
